Fruit-jar opener



(No Model.) v

- G. A. LILJENCRANTZ..

FRUIT JAR OPENER.

.No.nzasgols Patented Sept. 18, 188s..-

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M ,INVBNTVOR L/ I u BY LwmnQmm j f ATTORNEY N. PETtRs. Hmwukhogmpmnwuhfngtw. mc.

UNITED STATES PATENT @OI-riem GUsrAvE ADoLrH ivI. 'LILJnNcnANTZ, orcHIcAeo, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 285,048, datedSeptember 18, 1883.

V Application filed August 2, 1883. (No niodel.)

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Beit known that I, GUsrAvn ADoLPII M. LILJENCRANTZ, of Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Instruments for Opening Fruit J ars and Bottles;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of theinvention, which will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

Great difficulty is often experienced by housekeepers and otherswhosebusiness requires them to open jars or bottles of preserved fruits,because of their inability to overcome the friction of the cap or covercaused by the suction due to the shrinkageof the fruit, or from othercauses.

The object of my invention is to furnish means for easily removing thesaid cap 0r cover of fruit-jars, and this I accomplish by twoinstruments, viz., a wrench to unscrew the cap or cover, and astrap andbuckle device to hold the bottle orj ar firmly in one position whilesaid cap is being `removed, substantially as hereinafter fullydescribed, and as set forth in the drawings, in which- Figure I is aplan view of my buckle. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of thesame with the strap in position, showing the Inanner of its use. Fig. 8is a plan view of my wrench, and Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinalsection of the same, together with a plan view of the buckle and strap,illustrating the mauner of their combined use. In the drawings, Arepresents a buckle, having side bars, a a, four cross-bars, l, 2, 3,and 4, and a handle, A, extending longitudinally from one end thereof. Brepresents a strap or band of suitable material, used in connectiontherewith. y

When it is desired to use the above-mentioned buckle and strap thelatter is first slipped upward between the bar 4 and the handle, thenbetween cross-bars 4 and 3, up again between 2 and 3, down between 4 andthe handle, around the bottle on a horizontal plane, up between 2 and 3,and then down between I and 2, under bar 1. It will be noticed that thestrap between cross-bar 4 and the handle and under cross-bar l laps overonto itself;

therefore, when it is desired to use the same,

and the handle is oscillated outward, (the bar I serving as the fulcrum,and bar 4 the point of greatest resistance,) the lateral and tensilestrain on the strap will prevent it from slipping the buckle, and at thesaine time tighten its grip on thejar or bottle. If desired, however,bar 4 may be dispensed with, in which event the strap would be loopedaround bar 3, back onto its lengt-h, and there riveted, thus connectingit -to -the buckle, so that there would be less likelihood of eitherpart being lost to the other when not in use.

I do not limit myself to the buckle as above described, as it is obviousother forms may be substituted, which, when used in combination with theWrench, would answer my purpose,

although not quite so well.

- The wrench consists of altrough-shaped bar, C, open at both ends, oneend of which is bridged over. rIhe stock D of this bridge is extendedlongitudinally and terminates in two arms, d, diverging obliquely toeither side of the same, and placed at about an angle of forty-Iivedegrees to each other. These arms have eXtendin downward from theirextremities the studs d, which bear against the periphery of the cap ofthe jar, and at a distance apart corresponding to about one-third thecircumference of the smallest size cap.

In the channel or trough of the bar C operates longitudinally the tangFV of the jaw G. This tang passesnnder the bridge D, out from the opencontiguous end of said trough, where it terminates, and is enlarged andextended downward to formthe jaw G, which latter,

`when in use, bears against the circumference of the jar-cap at a pointintersected by a line equally dividing `the angle described by the armsd. On that part of the upper surface of the tang F which moves withinthe trough of the bar C is a raised part orprotuberanee, c, againstwhich the operator presses his thumb Aor finger when adjusting thewrench around the periphery of thc cap. As nearly all the caps 0ffruit-j ars have a side projection of one kind or another, the j aw Gwill, as it is being turned to unscrew or remove the cap, meet and bearlaterally against the same. The strain, therefore, will be laterally onthe tang, so that very little pressure of the thumb on the protuberancec is needed to prevent the jaw G cross-bars connecting the sideframe,and havfrom moving longitudinally backward and ing a handle rigidly xedto and extending 2o' slipping said projection. longitudinally from oneend thereof.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure 4. A buckle having a handle,as hereinbe- 5 by Letters Patent, isfore described, and having fourcross-bars conl. A buckle, A, as described, havingahanneoting its sideframes, the spaces between dle, in combination with a suitable strap orthe second and third of which, and between 25 band, as set forth. thefourth and the handle, being` preferably 2. The combination, with awrench having wider than the other, and the end cross-bar of 1o twodiverging arms, with studs extending which, when in operation, serves asafulcrum. downward from the extremities thereof, and In testimony that Iclaim the-foregoing as having a jaw, G, the whole adapted to grasp myown, I hereunto affix my signature in pres- 3o the periphery of afruit-j ar cap or cover, of a ence of two witnesses. buckle having ahandle and strap connected T, I 5 therewith, adapted to hold the body ofsaid GUSTME ADOLPH M LHJDNCRNTZ' jar'while the cap'is being removed,substanvW'itnesses: tially as specified. JAMES H. COYNE,

3. A buckle having preferably three or four FRANK D. THOMASON.

